Partnerships and collaborations

Bringing together organisations like yours with our experts

We work in partnership with organisations to support their goals. By meeting their challenges head on, we deliver tangible, impactful results.

Whether you're looking for a short consultancy project to streamline your processes, or to use our expertise to develop new products as part of a long-term strategic co-development partnership, we can find a mechanism to suit your needs.

We have a long history of working with SMEs and global corporations alike. Here are just a few ways we've worked with businesses to drive success by providing innovative solutions to complicated challenges.

AAK

“Our strong professional association with the University of Hull gives our research a degree of scientific understanding we wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.”

Hull-based AAK (UK) Ltd specialises in the development, production and application of edible oils and fats. Its food industry clients have come under pressure from the government to reduce the fat content of their products, which was previously achieved by the use of additives. However, there is also pressure to reduce the amount of additives used. If AAK’s research and innovation team could meet both of these demands, the company could steal a march on its competitors.

AAK entered into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme with the University of Hull. This saw nanotechnology specialist Dr BaiJia Tang join the company fresh from completing his PhD in Materials Science in our Department of Chemistry. His expertise – coupled with access to our cutting-edge research labs – has given AAK the extra scientific muscle it needs to achieve its goals.

AAK has developed deeper scientific insight into the physical properties of its edible vegetable oils allowing it to offer enhanced products to its clients. This, in turn, has meant greater profits, allowing the company to plan further multi-million pound investments in its local manufacturing site.

Pioneering approaches to advanced wound care with Smith & Nephew

This collaboration brought together academia and industry and established a team of experts charged with benefitting patients by developing scientific insights and innovative treatments in advanced wound care.

Supermarket giant Morrisons is the UK’s fourth-largest retailer, with an 8,000-strong logistics team tasked with managing an ever more complex and technologically sophisticated supply chain. In recognition of the growing importance of logistics to the company’s performance, it was decided to identify future leaders within its team and invest in their development.

The business entered into a partnership with the Logistics Institute at the University of Hull to devise and deliver a pioneering foundation degree course to selected members of staff. It included modules on academic and management skills, human resources, operations management, leadership and other subjects of relevance to the Morrisons logistics operation.

Over the course of five years, a total of 100 Morrisons staff went on to take the bespoke part-time degree, which was taught by leading academics, partly on-campus and partly at the company’s Northampton site. It created a new wave of highly trained managers, with the skills and the motivation to contribute more than ever to the Morrisons brand.

Supporting businesses in renewables and environmental technologies

A unique collaboration with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and located at the heart of the UK’s Energy Estuary, ergo is a space designed to house big ambitions and to support the low carbon agenda.

BemroseBooth Paragon is a specialist ticket supply company based in Hull. Back in 2014, the business faced a problem: in order to remain commercially viable, it needed to develop its own ink manufacturing capability rather than rely on expensive bought-in supplies.

The business entered into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University of Hull. Haydn Ward, one of our talented Chemistry graduates, joined the company to formulate, refine and manufacture the technology for producing the information-storing magnetic strip on the company’s tickets and to create ten types of magnetic ink.

Thanks to the competitive advantage delivered by the KTP, the company has since developed a full-scale ink manufacturing plant at its Hull premises. It now produces two tonnes of its own ink every week, printing and distributing tickets to hundreds of clients and locations around the world, including all UK railways, London Underground and the Paris and Cairo metros.

Combining academic expertise with industry know-how

Aura is a collaborative initiative working in the UK's Energy Estuary region to make offshore wind a viable solution across the world.